'Don't forget about East Palestine'

 Feb. 3, marks the first anniversary of the Norfolk Southern train derailment, which spewed carcinogenic chemicals across the town of East Palestine and its nearly 5,000 residents, displacing and sickening hundreds. A year later, residents still don’t know whether to trust that their community, and its environment, has been healed.

One milestone may finally be reached: After reneging on his promise a year ago, President Joe Biden has announced a visit to the Ohio hamlet in the coming days — though which day has not yet been announced. It is essential, needless to say, that the president not stiff East Palestine once again.

It was a harrowing few days, with pictures of giant black plumes rising above a model small town dominating the news. Train cars filled with vinyl chloride spilled and were eventually burned to avoid a catastrophic explosion, blanketing the area in a cloud of hydrogen chloride and phosgene.

Since then, Norfolk Southern has paid nearly $21 million directly to residents and invested over $100 million overall to atone for its negligence. That’s still only about 1% of its annual earnings: While cash can’t heal all wounds, we wish Pennsylvania and Ohio had extracted more direct payments.

Residents are divided. Some believe the worst is over, and that Norfolk Southern has done its duty to clean and revitalize the village it blighted. Others, many of whom still have unidentified health issues, don’t believe EPA reports that the air and water are clean. They have questions about sediment sampling and the long-term safety of their children.

Experts haven’t formed a consensus about the hazard, either. Studies contradict one another: One by the Texas A&M University Superfund Research Center and Carnegie Mellon University sided with the EPA that air quality is satisfactory, but another from Purdue University found lingering, dangerous health threats inside buildings near the derailment site and along the nearby creek, Sulfur Run.

The unknowns dwarf the knowns. Though some chemicals may test below technical danger thresholds, it’s simply impossible to know the effects of low-level exposure to them, in all their combinations, over long periods of time. Even now, the water of Sulfur Run has an oily sheen as it winds its way to the Ohio. Nobody knows what’s causing it.

This is consistent with many environmental disasters through history: There are always effects that cannot be predicted or understood using current knowledge and methods. And at some point in the future, everyone in charge looks foolish.

A year later, the recovery is still a work in progress. Crews have hauled over 44 million gallons of wastewater and 176,000 tons of solid waste from the derailment site, and are now backfilling new stone and gravel. Seventy-five to 100 trucks shuttle through East Palestine daily.

The worst fate that could befall the town now is to be forgotten. Hopefully Mr. Biden’s visit will ensure a renewed focus on East Palestine, on the people who still call it home, and on the lessons that still need to be learned from last year’s disaster.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/editorial-dont-forget-about-east-palestine/ar-BB1hHZm3